The Blind Search
by 9tailsfox2
Summary: During a mission traveling towards the Land of the Snow, the ship everyone was on got caught into a storm and Naruto was washed overboard and when he wakes up, he finds him self seemingly in another world, or rather, the other side of the world. Naruto then runs into the Blind Bandit. Will he befriend her, or will the relationship be more? He has to help the Avatar as well.
1. Washed Ashore

**A/N Hello fellow FF Members and Visitors alike! This is 9tailsfox2 with Chapter 1 to my new fic, 'The Blind Search'! Sorry for my three week absence. My room was getting repainted and any time I got to write I did, but I just blew through 80% of this in one sitting. Anyways, Bold means Demon thought/speech. Italics means in the head. One announcement at the end!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or plot from Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender!**

**Anyways, onward to the story!**

**EDIT: 4/27/14 (Details at bottom.)**

* * *

The Land of Snow was where they were headed. Honestly Naruto did not like their escort very much. He never had much respect for people who ran away from their problems, especially behind sake. He could tell that she was hiding something, but it was not something he wished to pry into. It just wasn't his place.

Now he was stuck on a boat with his once favorite actress. Something he practically dreamed of, and now that was happening, he'd rather be off the thing as soon as possible. The director was very much oblivious Princess Fuun's issues. He practically wanted to laugh at that bumbling fool. But he had to admit, he can write pretty damn good movies.

Naruto was about to turn over in bed when the boat shook so violently that it practically over-did the job for him and his face was now on the floor. _What the heck was that?_ All of a sudden a loud crack pierced Naruto's ears. _Lovely, we are in the middle of storm! Can my day get any worse?_

Naruto grumbled as he made his way to the deck to help secure any loose items. Naruto looked up and saw Kakashi. "Oh hey Naruto-Kun, I was just about to get you."

Naruto ran his hand through his hair. He was tired of acting like an idiot. The two elders and that mummy man made it very clear that if he was ever considered a threat to village security, he would wind up dying. The stupid fox inside of him really did not help things. He just wished he was in a completely different place in the world, where he could start over. "Meh, Kakashi! I'll kick the ass of the…" _Captain, _"person driving the ship!"

Kakashi sighed. "It wasn't the Captain's fault Naruto we are just in the middle of the storm. Now, I want you to find us some rope."

Naruto face faulted. _I really hate acting like an idiot._ "Why are sending me to get some stupid rope!? Shouldn't we be inside where we can't get blown over?"

Kakashi face palmed. _I know I shouldn't be thinking of my students so negatively, but he really is an idiot._ We need rope so we can tie down some of the stuff that can be blown over but can't be brought inside, even if temporarily. Sasuke is holding that big stuff while Sakura is bringing that small stuff in here."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, which was indeed a real habit, but not for the same reason everyone thought of. _How long do I have to act like this?_ "I still don't get it!"

Sakura pushed Kakashi out the way, not that he didn't let her, and punched Naruto in the head. "You idiot! Just get some rope!"

Naruto grumbled as he proceeded outside, massaging his new bruise. _Ugh! Why does she hit me so much! Now where is the rope again?_

All of a sudden Naruto felt the boat start tilting to the left and Naruto heard a shout of. "ROGUE WAVE!"

Naruto then felt the boat steep deep enough where he stumbled to the edge and snapped his head to the disturbance and towering over the left side of the ship, which began tilting up, was a gigantic wave. "Dammit!"

At the worst possible time, the wave broke and it washed over Naruto and he hit his head on the railing of the right side of the ship and felt himself go over right before quickly blacking out.

* * *

Naruto's eyes slowly flickered open and began to adjust to the dim light around him. _Ugh, where am I?_ One look around told him he was in his mindscape. He sighed as he got up and walked up to the Kyuubi's cage. "Hey! Fur ball! Wake up!"

The Kyuubi growled as his eyes opened. **"Why the hell did you wake me up!?"**

Naruto sighed angrily. "Why the hell am I here!?"

Kyuubi laughed. **"You certainly did not enter of your own will and I sure as hell did not call your annoying ass. That means you're dying. Don't worry my chakra will take care of any wounds… Night."**

Naruto walked up to the cage. "Oh no you don't! I can't be dying from drowning; otherwise I would have been dead by now! I want you to tell me what I'm dying from!"

Kyuubi shook his head. _**How did I get stuck talking to this brat?**_** "You probably got a concussion from hitting your head on the railing. Luckily for you, you are floating face up. It is suggestible that you stay here until you reach land, you can't swim for long, and your chakra is abysmal. I had to use it to stop your brain from bleeding out."**

Naruto groaned. "Well I hope to reach land soon; I would prefer to be awake for most of my life."

Kyuubi pushed his claw through the bars to push Naruto back. **"I sense land coming up in about 24 hours. I'm going to sleep now, don't disturb me unless you wish to die."**

Naruto sighed. "If I die you die, so you can't do that. Before you do sleep, how long was I out?"

Kyuubi laughed. **"When you reach land, you would have been out for a month. Now leave me alone!"**

Naruto nodded. "A month!? How the hell am I alive!? How do I have abysmal chakra after a month!? You know what, never mind… Even my brain hurts too much to think about it. Alright lazy ass if you need anything, just call me!" He then walked off to begin training.

Kyuubi grumbled off to sleep. _**Heh! Just as boisterous as Kushina! **_Kurama did not want to admit it, not out loud at least, out of all the people he was sealed inside he did like Naruto the most.

* * *

Naruto slowly came to consciousness and got a hold of his surroundings. _Ok, now where am I?_ Naruto immediately felt Kyuubi trying to communicate with him. _"What is it you stupid fox?"_

Naruto then felt Kyuubi sigh. _**"To answer your question, or rather lack of."**_

Naruto scratched the back of his head clearly confused. _"What are you talking about?"_

Naruto Kyuubi felt groan. _**"Simple answer, I don't know. I haven't been here before."**_

Naruto would have face planted if he was not on the ground already. _"So any idea where we could have wound up?"_

Kyuubi thought for a minute before_** "You could have possibly been washed up on a completely different continent, being that you floated in the middle of the ocean for a month. Additionally, there is a lack of chakra in the surroundings, but I do sense a different but similar type of energy, though I do doubt that it is compatible with chakra."**_

Naruto nodded. _"I still don't know why I have so little chakra after a month."_

Kyuubi sighed. _**"With so little chakra your body used it to stay afloat and what was produced was used to keep you afloat."**_

Naruto shook his head. _"Is there any civilization near here at least? I need to rest and frankly that would be the first good news in a month!" Please let there be something!_

Kyuubi paused for a moment and nodded. _**"Great news! We have a huge town just up north, over that hill."**_

Naruto sighed in relief. _Now I can find a way back. Huh, I should probably get new clothes. I should have enough chakra in my body so that I can perform a henge on my clothes till I could buy new ones._

Kyuubi sighed. _**"What are you waiting for?"**_

Naruto waved his hand as if to brush the demon off. _"I'm trying to figure out how to present myself, and whether or not I should have amnesia."_

Kyuubi laughed. _**"You are thinking ahead for once!"**_

Naruto smirked. _"Well this is a new start for me. Alright I'm about to head up and acting is really difficult if you have a thousand year old demon in your head. You have been a good boy and for that you deserve a treat."_

Kyuubi was confused until a bag of Kibbles N' Bits appeared before him. _**"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?"**_

Naruto laughed as he corrected the mistake. _"There, is that better?"_

Kyuubi cried out in anger as the bag of Kibbles N' Bits transformed into a bag of Meow Mix seeded with Cat Nip. _**"That's it! I'm going to bed!"**_

Naruto smirked with one last insult. _"That's how I know I got the right treat!"_

Kyuubi immediately cut off the connection as Naruto glowed in victory. _Alright let's see… ah!_

Naruto transformed into a simple dark orange t-shirt with loose red pants and made sure they were tattered, as if he was washed ashore recently. With confidence he proceeded to the town in question, which was remarkably huge for a town.

* * *

As Naruto entered through the gates, the first thing he noticed was that the populace was made up of mostly civilians with no ninja to be seen, but there were uniformed guards placed here in there to keep public control. The dress code appeared to be mostly made up of earthly colors such as green and brown. Tan wasn't uncommon either and he really felt out of place as he was already getting stares.

Naruto tried to get out of there as quickly as possible but then felt something wrap around his feet. _What the hell is happening?_

One of the guards approached Naruto as he raised his hand and a boulder from the ground jumped up and floated above his head. "Give me one reason why I should not crush you right now Fire Nation Scum!"

Naruto shook his head. "Wh-What the hell is happening!? Where am I!? Who are you!? Stop this please!"

What came out of Naruto's mouth stunned the man and lowered the rock to its origin. "Wait a minute, what are you saying?"

Naruto shuddered. "I don't even know who I am right now, not even a name. All I know was that I woke up in that beach over there with no memories of my past life."

The man scrunched up his face. "Alright, I'll place you in solitary confinement until we figure out what to do with you."

Naruto's eyes widened. _Dammit, and I thought I would get off easily._ "What the hell man!? You just going to throw an innocent man in jail!?"

The man raised a rock again without hands. "Either you come quietly or we knock you out!"

Naruto looked around and quickly found a pile of logs in a nearby stall. "How about you let me go quietly or I knock you out!"

The man did not take that so well he shot it right at Naruto's head, which would have hit dead on if Naruto did not perform Kawarimi with one of the logs he just spotted.

The guard was utterly confused. "Huh? Where did he go!?"

One of the other guards then pointed down the alleyway. "There he is! Get him!"

* * *

As soon as Naruto performed the technique, he wasted no time in getting out of there, but unfortunately he wasn't going to get away the easily, so he turned the corner and out into another street. _Ugh what is it going to take to shake these guys? I can't exactly perform Kage Bunshin, they'll see and I'll become an even bigger threat! Dammit! What should I do?_

After about five minutes of running through streets, turning down alleyways and out into other streets, he saw an opportunity, a giant wall he can jump over before they turn the corner to see him, and anybody else for that matter. _Almost there!_

Naruto ran the distance and leaped to disappear behind the wall just in time for the guards to turn the corner.

One of the men looked around confused. "Did anybody see him!?"

The other men shook their heads. "We'll keep looking through the streets! He has to be somewhere!" With that they separated and ran down the different streets and ultimately away from the wall Naruto jumped over.

Naruto took a sigh of relief as he looked around and realized he was probably in some rich person's yard. It simple but yet elegant.

Naruto was about to jump over again so he was not caught when he heard the voice of a young girl. "Who are you and what are you doing here!?"

Naruto turned to face the source of that voice and saw a girl of his age. She was wearing a green shirt, green pants, tan vest that hung over the front and back of her legs but not the sides, all tied together with a brown studded belt. Naruto noticed that her eyes were faded and had a lack of pupils, though distinguishable from her iris. "I-I'm sorry. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and you are?"

The girl sighed. "Ugh! Enough with the formalities!"

Naruto glared at the girl, who seemed to be unaffected. "I was just asking for your name. I'm not one for formalities either, but how can I tell you my story if I don't even know your name?"

The girl grumbled. "Fine, you do have a point. My name is Toph Beifong. Now I want to know why you are here!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that... Well to begin, I woke up on the beach with tattered clothes and I had no idea where I was or who I was. In fact I don't remember anything. So I walked up and saw this town so I decided to enter, accept everyone stared at me as if I did something terrible. These mean guards trapped and threatened to kill and after saying I couldn't remember anything, instead of offering apologies or even directions to the nearest hospital, they said they'd throw me into solitary confinement."

Toph face faulted. "You are a terrible liar. First you said your name and then said you didn't remember anything, plus, I can feel your heartbeat, to tell that you are lying to me."

Naruto scratched his head. "You can feel my heartbeat? What are you, a bat?"

Toph laughed. "Nope, but good guess."

Naruto sighed. "Alright, would it be rude of me as to inquire how you can 'feel' my heartbeat. It sounds like an interesting ability actually."

Toph sighed. "No it isn't rude. I'm blind if you couldn't tell, but I can still 'see' things. Using my Earthbending I can sense vibrations in the earth and I can use my ears to sense the slightest of disturbance in the air."

Naruto was confused. "Earthbending?"

It was Toph's turn to be confused. "Strange, you don't seem to be lying about that, but when you said you didn't remember anything you were lying to me. Tell me, what really happen?"

Naruto shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you Toph-Chan."

Toph raised an eyebrow at the suffix. "Toph-Chan?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it's a suffix for close friends, little kids or those of whom in a serious relationship."

Toph nodded. "I'm not a little kid!"

Naruto laughed. "I never said you were!"

Toph shook her head. "Wait you consider me as a friend!? Ha! You come in here possibly as thief and you expect me to be friends with you!?"

Naruto hung his head. "That hurt you know. In truth, I don't have many friends, if any at all."

Toph heard Naruto's voice crack, but not in the way a person with normal hearing would conceive as a 'crack' in the voice. Toph heard the loneliness he had in his tone; she heard her own voice whenever she tried talking with the butterflies or random critters or animals that would come by. She hated her parents and her earth bending teacher so she had no one to talk to. _Now that I think about it that did sound a bit harsh…_ "I'm sorry, for saying that. It's just hard to trust someone who just jumps over a wall that high."

Naruto shook his head. "It's ok, everyone makes mistakes. So can we be friends?"

Toph thought about it. _A friend? I never had a friend before. I wonder what it's like to have a friend. Maybe after he tells me about what really happened I could tell him about my parents and life, as if there was much to talk about._ "Alright, I'll be your friend if you can tell me why you are intruding on my parent's property!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Hmmm the best way to understand my story is for me to give you a background of knowledge of world of where I came from." Naruto told her everything there was to tell about Konoha and when it came to ramen, which was one of the obsessions he did not fake, he exclaimed enthusiastically of how wonderful ramen was and when it came to being the Hokage, he told Toph he wanted to become Hokage to be recognized by everyone in the village, to become the best there is and to protect everyone with his strength.

Toph, who admittedly was really into the story Naruto, has woven and by far she did not detect single lie, even when it came things such as jutsu and chakra. He even told her about the Kyuubi's attack on the village and how he was strangely born the same day. Toph was especially interested on what the suffixes were and what they meant, despite her dislike for formality, this knowledge seemed refreshing in some sort of way.

Naruto sighed sadly as he covered everything except his life. "Well that's my culture and what I grew up in, but there is still one explanation I really wanted to avoid… my life."

Toph instantly felt Naruto's mood drop and was even affected herself. _Was his past so bad that his emotions would instantly sink?_ "You don't have to explain that if you don't want to."

Naruto shook his head. "I probably should. It helps to talk it out, you know?"

Toph nodded. "Alright, whatever you say."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, anyways, my childhood wasn't that great. It was terrible in fact."

Toph was shocked at what Naruto described as his daily life. Getting chased down by the villagers constantly, and whenever caught they would proceed to beat him mercilessly. Naruto went to explain that at some points he hated the fact that he could not bleed out to just die, no within a few hours, the injuries would heal, but the pain would still be there. The only saving graces of his life were the Ichiraku father and daughter team and the Hokage himself. Everyone else hated him and the children as well, because their parents told them to.

Naruto sadly sighed. "They would always call me demon or that I don't deserve to live. I believed them. I hated those people, I hated my life, and I hated myself." Naruto choked up a sob. It was painful talking about this.

Toph was truly horrified at the life he lived. "Why would they do such a thing?"

Naruto managed to hold back his tears. "I'll get to that. There was at one point in my depression in which I went to a bridge and stood at the edge. I was ready to jump when Jiji walked and called me out. He asked why I was about to jump and I told him why. He was furious to say the least but he told me that to have people recognize me is to prove my worth and my strength and use that strength to protect them. From that day forward, I drew that will from Jiji and the Ichiraku's and put it all into training and studying, a few years before my academy days started. I became strong and smart."

Toph nodded and listened to every word Naruto said. Apparently before school started, he was threatened by the elders and so to hide his true abilities, he made himself an idiot and the bottom of the class and even went as far to wear some ridiculous outfit, which he just left it at that, seeing that describing color to a blind person was as fruitless as a barren tree. Naruto purposefully failed three times, and waited until the fourth chance to graduate, which was the maximum number of chances one was able to take at graduating and planned on barely passing, but the year on his last chance, his chakra mysteriously spiked and his jutsu failed because of that.

Naruto looked down in shame. "After that I was done, or at least I thought I was until Mizuki came along and told me of a scroll, a chance to graduate. I immediately knew that he was after the scroll himself. In his mind if the Demon Brat of Konoha was caught stealing the Sacred Scroll, then I would have to be brought to death while Mizuki would escape. I decided to take the scroll and learned Kage Bunshin, which is a solid clone technique which divides the person's chakra into equal parts and distributes them among the amount of clones you produce. Because of my training, naturally high chakra and stamina, I was able to produce about a hundred clones by the time Iruka-Sensei came along and found me."

Toph seemed to be really dragged into the story now as he went on to explain this big revelation that the Fourth Hokage was the one who sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto. This would be the reason why everyone thought he was the demon. Naruto explained that he eventually beat Mizuki using the Kage Bunshin and how he graduated. Toph then noticed the change of pace of the story as Naruto quickly went through the graduation and how he was put into a team with Sasuke and Sakura, and went to explain his relationship with them as 'Dobe Naruto' and what he really thought of them. Naruto went through the explanation of Zabuza, the Chuunin Exams, The Sand and Sound Evasion with the reasons behind of course and the mission to find Tsunade to bring her back as the Fifth Hokage. After that he went on a mission to escort some stupid princess and while they were on a boat, they were struck by a storm.

Naruto grumbled. "After about a month I woke up in my mindscape with the Kyuubi and he explained how I was a day away from land. So I decided to train really hard before coming to land and waking back up. After explaining that he sensed a similar, but incompatible type of energy in this land and pointing out a nearby civilization, I transformed into this outfit and walked in. From there you know the rest, as you probably saw it with your sight."

Toph's eyes widened in surprise. _Wow, that's quite a story, but I can tell that he's telling the truth. Other people might have thought he would be lying._ "Wow, that's quite a life Foxy. After hearing that, I can't complain about mine though…" _I totally feel like crap for hating my parents when Naruto didn't even have his to begin with…_

Naruto smiled. _Wow, she actually believes me!_ Naruto noticed that Toph's mood has dropped. "Hey, don't get upset. Why don't you tell me about it? It helps you know, well helps me at least." It certainly did help, he felt like an entire weight that has been on his shoulder that was growing and growing throughout his life until he was about to collapse just fall off. "You don't have to you if you don't want to."

Toph nodded. "Alright, I'll tell you what I know, but I pretty much had been closed off my entire life and except for one incident; I never have never left these grounds, not even to the market. I have been taught about the politics and other things about the outside, but that is just the boring book stuff, I really have no idea what it's really like to be out there. Hmmm, where to begin… Let's start with the name of this city. It's called Gaoling."

Naruto nodded and listened intently as Top explained the politics and the other 'book stuff' up to her knowledge then went into chi and benders. She went on to explain about the Avatar and then went into the hundred year war, in which the last Avatar was an Airbender. She continued on explaining that the there was a North Water Tribe and a South Water Tribe, but she did not know why it was split so and the fact she suspected conflict between the two. The Air Nomads were all but gone while The Earth Kingdom probably had the best chance to go against the Fire Nation, but unfortunately The Fire Nation was bigger than the three combined and as such, the brutal war lasted till now. _Hmm if I had to guess this would be an Earth Kingdom City and the colors are green, brown and tan. I would have to guess The Water Tribe would be blue, hmmm maybe with purple? Air Nomads might have worn white and by the reactions of the guards, red and orange are Fire Nation colors._

Toph smirked. "Well you are currently in an Earth Kingdom city and I, Toph, am the best Earthbender out there!"

Naruto smirked as well. "Hmmm I would love to see your skills sometime, but please continue."

Toph nodded. "I wish to see your skills as well… At least the ones I can see, well about my life, I was born blind and while I grew up, my parents grew overprotective of me and I was just a meek little thing. They even went through lengths of hiding me from the world and the world from me, believing I couldn't defend myself. I was… am still lonely." Toph's voice faltered. "Tired of not having any friends, I ran away at the age of six. I somehow wounded up in the mountains in a cave. Lost and alone, I was scared; I had no idea of where I was, that is, until a badgermole found me. Badgermoles are said to be the originating source of bending. I heard about them and for some reason I knew it was a badger mole. I decided to learn from it and I quickly learned Earthbending and gained the ability to see how they see, through vibrations in the earth. With that, I gained the determination to show my parents that I am not some weak little blind girl to be kept away from the world. After few years in honing my skill and still pretending to be that meek girl, I demonstrated a small portion of my abilities, though not to its full extent, not even close. They were stunned to say the least and instead of acknowledging my strength, they forbade me to Earthbend and put up security measures."

Naruto nodded as Toph continued the story of her life. She explained how she begged for Earthbending lessons, even if to just defend herself. Unfortunately, her teacher, Master Yu didn't teach anything more than the basics. While it helped in the sense of learning a new style, she already mastered one that really suited to her. She went to secretly join an underground Earthbending tournament called 'The Earth Rumble VI' where she was called the Blind Bandit. From then on, she alone held the championship title. She saw the rest of the participants as too flashy and not even close to a challenge, it was still better than Master Yu and she actually got some practice in on those days.

Toph groaned as she felt a huge weight fall off her shoulders, but it left behind a tightening in her chest. "I really hate my parents. While they say I'm supposed to be 'proper', I really don't think I need to be 'proper if no one is to see me. Besides I have no friends at all. I know I'm sounding like a jerk for hating my parents when you don't have any… Oh man, my life sucks, but your life sucked worse… I'm sorry…"

Naruto noticed how Toph was beginning to break and threw his arms around her. "It's ok, you can let go. While I may have had no parents, being that they died, you have every right to complain about them. Overprotection is just as bad as not being there for them at all. As for friends, you now have me."

Toph began crying as she wrapped his arms around Naruto and cried on his shoulder. "I-I promised to be st-strong my entire life. I promised myself that I wouldn't cry ever again. B-But now…"

Toph began sobbing as Naruto rubbed Toph's back to comfort her. "It's ok to let it all out, in fact it's healthy to… let go for a while."

Toph definitely heard Naruto but her response was more crying as Naruto held Toph tightly and stayed like that for a few minutes before her crying died down. "There now, you ok?"

Toph sniffled as she wiped her face of her tears. "Yeah, I'm fine, I feel better than I did before you jumped over that wall. You're right, I do feel better. Alright foxy, do you remember when I told you about the tournament?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, why did you call me foxy?"

Toph smiled. "Because you have a fox sealed inside you know? So, I nick named you Foxy!"

Naruto smiled as well. "Alright Toph-Chan. So, what you were going to say?"

Toph was about to explain her idea when she heard one of the few guards patrolling alert her and instantly buried Naruto in such a way he was hidden from view but could still breath but not talk.

From Naruto's position he could see what was going on and notice a guard approach her and instantly transform from the head strong free spirit to a weak little girl just from the posture. "Hey, Toph what are you doing here?"

Naruto's eye glared at the guard, whose voice was that of a mental patient or a three year old. _They're still stepping on eggshells around her!_

Toph looked around. "I was just walking around and practicing my earth bending, when I realized that I was lost. I don't know where the house is… I want daddy!" Toph began forming fake tears.

Naruto knew those tears were fake and the tears she shed just earlier were real. _Why does she act like that!? She could break out at any time! But then again, where would she go? It's not like she can buy an apartment…_

The guard nodded. "It's ok, don't cry I'll get daddy real quick."

Toph 'sniffled' and smiled. "Please hurry, I'm scared." With that the guard walked away and Toph brought him back up. "Sorry about that."

Naruto waved his hand like it was nothing. "It's alright, just a little warning next time, ok? So why did you change so quickly Why don't you ever show your parents your true skill?"

Toph sighed. "If I did then I would be put on 24/7 watch. Anyways, we don't have much longer to talk. I was thinking we could train every night. Meet me at this spot at 10:00 pm and don't be late."

Naruto smiled. "I promise I won't be late. Whenever I make a promise, I never back down. Besides, why would I miss out a moment with a great new friend? No not friend… best friend!"

Toph smiled as well. "Best friends forever!"

Naruto nodded and noticed two figures walking from the house. "Oh crap! They're coming! I'd better go! See you later Toph-Chan!"

Toph nodded as well. "See you later Naruto!"

With that Naruto jumped over the wall just in time to be not noticed by Toph's father. _Well this is certainly going to be interesting!_

* * *

**A/N Alright! You guys should be glad I stayed up till 4 in the morning to write all this including the A/N... Anyways, I have a poll up in my profile and I'm asking who is going to be attending Connecticon and who won't. I myself will be there as I will be working there. More information at the poll. This is going to be rated T for now, though I might change it later for some lemons... maybe. Anyways I'll keep this short so I can post this thing.**

**Don't forget to R&R and as always, this is 9tailsfox2, signing off!**

**EDIT: From Toph introducing herself to Naruto's first few words of his 'first explanation (The lie)' was cut off for some reason. I fixed that up real quick!**


	2. Training

**A/N Hello fellow FF Members and Visitors alike, this is 9tailsfox2 with Chapter 2 for 'The Blind Search'! Sorry for taking so long. Actually having a life actuallu takes time out your day. I used my extra time to write this out and I even had this beta'd by Nine Mice, whom I must thank. As for the tats, holy shit! 32 Reviews, 138 Followers, 81 Favs, 1,950 views and even 2 Communities in 2 almost months! I did not realize how popular this would be when I wrote this up. I even have my first beta with this fic, but it is only for this fic. But yeah, unto the chapter. It is so popular, that I have decided to start up my funny disclaimers again.**

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Naruto: Hey Tails!**

**Tails: Yeah?**

**Naruto: Say it!**

**Tails: Say what?**

**Toph: You know...**

**Tails: Know what?**

**Naruto: You know! Say it!**

**Tails: Or what?**

**Toph: ROCK TO THE FACE!**

**Tails: Ugggghhhhh fine... I don't own Naruto or Avatar nor the characters... ugghhh *faints***

**Naruto & Toph: High five!**

* * *

Naruto slumped against the wall in an alleyway of the city of Gaoling. While this was a new start, he didn't have anything to pay for food and lodging and even then, he did not know what copper pieces looked like. He tried looking at different transactions, but the money was exchanged hand to hand and he could not make out what they looked like. At least he was smart enough to change his henge attire closer to what Earth Kingdom people would wear. He even decided to go incognito and changed his physical appearance to match those in the city. Blonde hair was not in sight as Naruto posed as homeless.

Naruto looked down as his stomach grumbled. _Dammit! This sucks! At least I was able to feed myself back in Konoha. Maybe I could try catching some fish outside the city… At least in the river, I could wash myself privately._

* * *

"MY CABBAGES!" No, Naruto did not steal cabbages; he wasn't literally dying of hunger. He stole some bread as he saw there was no fish in the river, where he bathed of course, and now he was on the run from the authorities once again. Go figure.

Naruto turned around and not for the last time yelled to the man, "I'm sorry!"

The guards didn't care as they trampled whatever was left of the poor man's cabbages. "Get back here you runt!"

Naruto stuck out his tongue. "If you want me you have to try harder than that! Your mother was faster than this last night!"

The guard in the front of the formation roared in anger "YOU BASTARD!"

Naruto smirked as he suddenly stopped along with the rest of the guard, except the one charging of course. _Perfect!_ When the guard reached at about the half-way point, he jumped up and slammed his foot in to the ground, sending a rock towards Naruto's face. Naruto side stepped and grabbed the rock midair and redirected it back at the guard, whom dodged it and was about to attack again but realized that the rock knocked down quite a few of his own men. "Nah, I thought you had me, but I got bored."

The guard growled and yelled. "Charge!"

Naruto laughed. "You still think you can get me!?" Naruto threw down a smoke bomb and done a Kage Bunshin No Jutsu and both the original and the Bunshin Henged into guards.

When the smoke cleared the group of guards looked amongst them. "Anybody see where he went?"

The Head Guard growled. "Find that tricky bastard! Fan out! You all know what he looks like!"

Everyone nodded and went off to find their target, unbeknownst to them he was among them and was getting away with free bread.

The Head Guard began his search lost within his thoughts. _What is it with the world today? A Fire Nation Man with amnesia and a homeless man here in Gaoling stealing bread. What's next? The Avatar will show up?_ The guard chuckled as he continued his search.

* * *

Naruto and his clone turned into an alleyway and with that, the clone dispelled while Naruto henged into another appearance. Naruto was about to start eating his bread when he heard a whimper. Naruto looked down and smiled when he saw a bear dog. Naruto remembered from Toph's explanation that the animals in this world were quite different from his own world. He came to the conclusion that the animals on this continent were actually a mixture of two animals. "Huh? Are you hungry too?"

The bear dog turned his head to the side as if telling Naruto that he was correct. Naruto smiled as he tore his loaf in half and gave it to the bear dog, who happily accepted it. "Hmm, where are your owner little fella? Did you get lost?"

The bear dog barked as he continued to eat the bread.

Naruto knew better than to touch a hungry dog, or in this case, a bear dog, while it was eating, especially if it was a stray. "You know, I got lost from home recently as well. While on one hand I'm glad I'm out of there so I wouldn't be treated like crap, on the other, I made friends there, whether I like it or not, somewhere deep in here," Naruto put his hand to his heart, "I do miss my home already and it even hasn't been a day."

The bear dog sat down next to Naruto when he was done and laid his head on Naruto's lap and looked up as if to say, 'Continue.'

Naruto nodded and pet the bear dog to search for a collar. "Hmmm, so your name is Sam huh? Anyways, while part of me wants to go back, I know that it will never happen because the sea is so large and I don't think any sailor wishes to go farther than the sight of land lest he wishes death. Additionally, I don't even know where to go, it'll take ages to go back. But yet, even if it weren't for all those things, I still wouldn't go back. You know why?"

Sam hung his tongue out, starts panting and wagging his tail with a bark.

Naruto continued scratching his ear and said with a smile, "Because I already made a best friend."

Naruto looked down and smiled as Sam slept in his lap. _Well I guess I could stay with you a bit but you have to go back to your owners._

All of a sudden Naruto heard a child yelling out for something and looked out the alleyway. "Sam! Where are you boy!?"

The young boy was suddenly stopped by someone whom he presumed was his mother. "He's gone Lee. Maybe he'll come back tomorrow."

Lee started crying. "But mommy, I want Sam now!"

The mother hugged her son. "It's ok we could just get another bear dog."

Lee pulled away. "But I don't want another bear dog! I want Sam!"

Naruto cleared his throat loud enough to get their attention, which worked. "Excuse but I couldn't help but overhear that you were looking for a bear dog named Sam."

Lee looked up and saw Sam in Naruto's lap and instantly ran to him and held him. "SAM! Oh, I'm so happy to see you! You don't know how worried I was!"

Sam opened up his eyes and instantly began licking the face of his owner.

The mother walked up to Naruto and pulled out something from her pockets. "Oh thank you for finding our bear dog, my son was so worried. Here, something for your troubles."

Naruto shook his head. "No thank you, he actually kept me company. So it was no trouble at all."

The mother sighed and forced what was in her hand into his. "I insist. I would feel bad for not giving a reward."

Naruto scratched his head. "And I would feel bad for accepting something I didn't earn, although I did give him half of the bread I sto- I mean got, because he seemed hungry. How long was he lost?"

The mother shook her head and reached for more money. "Three days. I don't care how you got the bread whether you stole it, or baked it yourself, you still found Sam and I am grateful for it. Besides, you look like you need it more than me."

Naruto sighed and gave up as he took the money from the mother's hand. "Alright, thank you very much. I hope you don't lose him again."

Lee excitedly got up and looked at Naruto and held out his hand. "Thank you sir! What's your name?"

Naruto smiled and shook Lee's hand. "Naruto Uzumaki."

The mother smiled. "Strange name, you're not around from here, are you?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'd prefer not to talk about it, but no I am not."

The mother smiled and shook Naruto's hand as well. "Alright thanks again… Lee, it's time to go home!"

Lee looked at Sam and smiled. "Sam! It's time to go home!"

Sam got up and stayed for a second and licked Naruto's face before standing beside Lee.

Naruto nodded and smiled. "Bye! Thanks for the company and the money."

The mother and child waved goodbye and walked off. "No problem!"

Naruto sighed as he let his thoughts wonder._ I wonder what Toph is doing right now._

* * *

Toph grumbled when she 'fumbled' with cutting up her steak. She hated acting weak. She knew exactly what would happen should she come out with her true abilities. They will put her on 24/7 lockdown. She wouldn't have anytime to herself to practice bending. Yeah, she could easily escape whatever her parents set up as her watch, but where would she go? Where could she live that is not on the streets? She could only take so much money, but people could take advantage of her blindness and she can't tell the difference between a copper, silver, or a gold piece from one another. While the weight in metals were different, anything that size is very much almost indistinguishable among other metals.

Poppy got up and helped Toph with the steak cutting and set the fork in the food so Toph can eat it. "Honestly honey, how can we possibly let you further your Earth Bending training when you clearly can't cut your steak?"

Toph was nearly on the brink of breaking and has been for the last few weeks. Even with the Earth Rumble VI, she was ready to lash back at her parents, but she kept her cool for now and she suspects that unless someone gave her a real challenge or at least a real work out to expel the pent up frustration, she would explode by next week. "Because mom, I already know the basics. Doing the same thing over and over is boring."

Lao shook his head. "We can't let you do that, it's too dangerous for one as fragile as you. We love you and we don't want to see you hurt."

Toph slumped even more in her posture, if it was possible. "Ok. Can I go back up to my room now? I'm done with my food."

Lao nodded and motioned for a guard to lead Toph back to her room. Toph hung her head low and sighed._ Figures, they say they love me, but they won't even tuck me in my own bed, like I ever wanted them too._

After Toph got got settled in bed she used her sight to keep track of all the bugs on the outside. Animals are creatures of habit and she had learned to keep track of time by using the activities of the insects on the outside as reference. The cricket mantis would start chirping at 6, the majority of the mosquito flies would be drawn to the porch at 7 at this time of the year. The bats from the nearby cave would land on the house at 8. Her parents would snore at 9 and finally the badger moles would go back to their beds at 10. While they were out of her sight range, the vibrations that came from their digging weren't. It was slight, but she knew it was them. It is time.

* * *

Naruto grumbled as the time soon approached to meet up with Toph. _**"What are you doing here?"**_

Naruto frowned. _What do you mean?_

Kyuubi growled. _**"You should be finding a way back home so I can terrorize those people you once called friends."**_

Naruto scratched the back of his head. _You heard me talking to that bear dog?_

Kyuubi grumbled. _**"Like I have no choice. Being trapped in you is total damnation. The only way to even keep my sanity is to talk with you, the one I hate so much."**_

Naruto sighed as he got up and began walking to Toph's house._ You should treat me nicer._

Kyuubi shook his head. _**"Why? Why should I, a demon of hatred and darkness be nice to you!? You are nothing more than entertainment when you make mistakes!"**_

Naruto laughed. _Hey you made mistakes too._

Kyuubi growled. _**"Wasn't my fault!"**_

Naruto was confused. _What are you talking about?_

Kyuubi shook his head. _**"Don't you have a 'meeting that wastes time' to go to?"**_

Naruto nodded as he hopped the wall and waited by the meeting the place. _It's not a waste of time! Now shut up and leave me alone!_

Kyuubi growled. _**"Fine brat."**__  
_

* * *

Toph sneaked out the house and heard something or someone jump the wall. That must be Naruto. Toph made her way to the meeting spot and smiled as she recognized the footsteps as Naruto. She quietly called, "Naruto, come over here."

Naruto nodded and approached Toph. He stepped as quietly as possible as to not make any noise. A stick cracked and froze. Toph nodded and waved, which gave him the all clear. Naruto finally reached Toph and sighed in relief. "Hi, so how are we going to train without waking up you parents?"

Toph smirked and pointed in the distance. "We are going to train in the mountains."

Naruto saw mountain range in the distance and frowned. While they could walk the distance, how much time would be left to train. Naruo shrugged. They will have time but another thought popped into his head. "What if they find you not in your bed?"

Toph laughed, not out of joy and mirth, but out of irony and even with a hint of rage. "The way they think of me, I'd probably make a ton of noise trying to find my way out my room."

Naruto scratched his head. He really did not know how to handle family problem concerning the parents, seeing as he had none. So he decided to stray the conversation away from her parents. "How about a demonstration of one of my skills right now?"

Toph sighed and leaned against a nearby tree. "As long as it doesn't make any noise."

Naruto nodded and prepared himself for a few heartbeats. "Alright, watch closely."

Toph nodded in anticipation as Naruto crossed his fingers._ I wonder what he is going to do._

Naruto smirked as he performed his jutsu with chakra whipping everywhere. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu." Naruto created a solid clone.

To Toph, it seemed someone else appeared out of nowhere and immediately got into a battle stance with an intense look on her face. "Who are you!?"

The mysterious figure laughed, which oddly sounded like Naruto. "It's just me Toph-Chan. I just created a solid clone. If it was an illusion, you would never have been able to detect it. Besides I can't do a regular clone to save my life."

Toph's eyes widened as she realized he was telling the truth. It took a few minutes for Toph to calm down from the scare. "Wow that is such a useful ability."

Naruto nodded and smiled. "I can perform a pretty good Henge, a jutsu to disguise your appearance, but it is just an illusion. You will not be able to detect any difference in my stature such as height and shape. I could henge into the tallest and fattest person alive and you will still only see what you see now. It is because these are sight illusions and nothing more."

Toph nodded as she tried to process the information. "So you can turn into a fly but you will be unable to fly because you really don't have wings?"

Naruto put his thumbs up in the same style as Maito Gai and his protege Rock Lee. "Exactly, but I can make the fly seem like it's flying around close the ground. Though there are better jutsus for eavesdropping."

Toph scratched her head in confusion, but gave up on figuring it out. "Well, whatever. It's going to take some time getting use to your fighting style. Though I would call it cheating to have multiple people on one."

Naruto shook his head as he henged his clone into Toph. The clone altered the posture and spoke. "I-I'm scared. I d-don't know where I am." The clone tripped over a rock and started crying.

Toph, only seeing the clone as Naruto was really confused. "Ok, why is your clone acting like the weak me? If it only looked like me then it would be perfect."

Naruto laughed. "My clone does look like you. Remember, this is sight illusion. So I'm that good huh?"

Toph nodded with wide-eyed realization. _I-It's genius!_ "Yeah, but don't put yourself on a high pedestal"

Naruto nodded and smiled. "Alright, he's going take your place in your bed, as a precaution."

Toph shook her head. _Who does he think he is!?_ "No! Only I'm allowed to sleep in my bed!"

Naruto hung his head in disappointment. _I didn't think I would have to explain it to her._ "Dummy, what if your parents get up and find you missing?"

Toph opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. "Alright fine, but if I find that you screw anything up or you tell anyone else, I will personally put a rock through your head!"

Naruto nodded as he sent his clone off. "Alright, I promise not to screw anything up or tell anyone about it. Are we good to go now?"

Toph nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

Toph was still amazed at the fact while she had to earth bend her way up that cliff, Naruto just walked up the slope as if it were a casual stroll. But this time she was prepared for such surprises. "You think you're tough just because you're able to walk up and down walls?"

Naruto yawned. "And ceilings."

This did not throw Toph off. "Well let's see how much of that trickery is going to come through for you against me. Remember, I can't be fooled by illusions."

Naruto laughed. "You can't be fooled by illusions through sight. But you can still be fooled by illusion through sound, but I'm not that good at genjutsu, so I think I'll stick with Taijutsu."

Toph growled. "Let's get this fight on already!"

Naruto yawned. "Alright let's do this!" Naruto immediate produced 5 clones quickly surrounded Toph and charged.

Toph smirked as she rose up 6 rocks and sent them flying into each clone and the original Naruto. Naruto's eye went wide as he spotted a nearby boulder and used Kawarimi to use it as a replacement. "Is that all you can do?"

Naruto smirked. Well, I guess I am in a territory that is to her advantage. But I do wonder how well she can detect objects in the air through sound. "Nope!" Naruto crouched down and picked up a nearby rock, jumped and threw it at Toph.

Toph waited as she felt Naruto jump. A few moments later she was caught off guard as she felt a rock rush towards her from the air and it was only through training that allowed her to react by redirecting the rock in the direction in which it was thrown. _That was too close; he must've thrown it while in midair._

Naruto landed as soon as Toph sent the rock flying. Close, very close. That was inches away from hitting her, must be her weakness. Unfortunately I don't have any projectiles on me. "Alright, so you can't see anything in the air unless it is very close to you!"

Toph nodded. "That won't do you any good if I'm faster than you!"

Naruto laughed. "I didn't even throw that hard!" With that, he jumped with a rock in hand again and this time threw it harder. Again, it got close but Toph dodged it.

Toph laughed. "You really have to try harder Foxy!"

Naruto shook his head. _One more time!_ Naruto jumped and threw it as hard and as fast as he can and even aided the speed with chakra. This time Toph stopped it in mid-air just a hair width away from her eye. "You are too slow!"

Toph then sent the rock flying right into Naruto's face, but he dodged it.

Naruto growled. "Alright! That's it! Now I'm mad! Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" With that, a hundred clones appeared and all went to pile Toph at the same time.

Toph's eyes widened as she began sending rocks everywhere. "That's not fair! You could summon an army!"

Naruto smirked as Toph began dodging his punches and kicks and sent up spikes of earth as retaliation. "There is a drawback for using this technique. It divides the chakra one has equally. Unfortunately for you, I have a lot of chakra!"

Toph slammed her foot down just as 10 clones were about to hit her at the same time, which sank them beneath the earth, causing them to pop. Good thing that they are defeated after one hit, otherwise he would have won by now. With a smirk, she realized something. _This is the challenge I was waiting for! The fact that I could possibly lose right now is giving me the greatest rush of a lifetime!_ "You think you can beat me with all your clones!? I will defeat them, you and still be able take on more! I am unstoppable!"

Toph soon regretted her words as exhaustion started taking place and yet there were still fifty left. _How can he fight so much?_ Surely cutting that much chakra will make you exhausted. Toph continued knocking out all the clones, pushing through, despite her exhaustion until there were two left flanking and charging her. If she weren't so close to falling over, she would have used her Earth Bending to knock them out, but instead she bumped into a clone, stopping its attack and dodged the other's attack, causing the clone to hit the other. Toph took this opportunity to punch the clone in the stomach and immediately felt a fist hit her face. _What!?_

Toph used her ability and saw the Naruto she hit most recently doubled over and realized that the Naruto she hit was the real Naruto she hit and that a clone actually jumped in the air and dived towards her for an attack. The clone, still going too fast to stop himself, hit the wall and popped from that.

Naruto tried to get up but realized that the punch was harder than he realized and just simply fell down. "Th-That was quite a punch."

Toph nodded from her downed position. "Yeah."

Naruto waited for the Kyuubi's chakra to heal him enough to get up; unfortunately when he looked up he realized that there was a very pointy rock floating at his neck. "Wh-What?"

Toph smiled as she tossed the rock aside and laughed, while still lying down. "I won."

Naruto got up and smiled. "Yes, you did. You put a great fight Toph. I made the mistake of thinking the fight was over. You used that to your advantage. Good job."

Toph frowned. "How do you have so much energy?"

Naruto shrugged. "Not energy, it's more like the will to keep going. That and the fact that I literally have a demon sealed inside of me." Naruto looked down and patted where his seal is.

Toph lifted an eyebrow at this. "What? Does he heal you or something?"

Naruto looked up and nodded. "Yup, but I don't know if it's his chakra or if he is actually helping me. I've always been a fast healer, but now I think it's been the fox the entire time, intentional or not."

Toph sighed. "Well that's nice. Not only do you have an immense pool of chakra, as you say, you also have the ability to go well past your limits AND you slowly heal over time. With that you are an unstoppable one man army!"

Naruto smiled. "If I was unstoppable, then how did you win? While I have some intelligence, I'm not that good at thinking in the heat of the moment. I really can't think of a good strategy while fighting. So I use my endurance and keep charging to overpower the opponent's defenses. It's not efficient, but it's the best way I can fight, though I plan on changing up on my style, if someone can help me."

Toph began nodding off. "I would say yes to help my only friend, but I'm tired right now and I should not be making promises when I am not even aware of where you are. Although the fact that I kicked your ass is awesome! I told you I was the best Earth bender!"

Naruto laughed. "I don't doubt it well your potential at least. I'm sure that somewhere out there is a better Earth bender. You have to realize, whatever your best skill is, there is always someone better at it, at least that's what one of my sensei's told me."

Toph smirked. "If there is someone out there better than me, then I'll become better than them. I will continue to become better than my next opponent until everyone can say without a doubt that I, Toph Beifong, is the best Earth bender in the world!"

Naruto laughed at her enthusiasm. "Great! I can't wait to see you stand at the top." Naruto held out his hand towards Toph.

Toph hesitated at taking his hand. "What are you doing?"

Naruto smiled and responded with, "Why, to help you up of course! I'll even let you lean on me on the walk back, but we have to move carefully to be not seen."

Toph thought about it for a moment and smiled as she accepted the hand and got up to lean on Naruto's shoulder. "Alright, thanks for the help."

Naruto smiled. "No problem…" Naruto's smile faltered when he began receiving images and information in his head that was just too real to ignore.

Toph noticed her friend's sudden change in emotion through the change in heartbeat, change in posture and the sudden stop. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know…"

Naruto felt Kyuubi snarl. _**"You fool! Those are the memories of the Kage Bunshin you sent out to replace Toph with!"**_

Naruto shook his head in confusion. _What are you talking about!?_

Toph started getting worried. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

Kyuubi shook his head. _**"The Kage Bunshin has the ability to transfer whatever memories and experience it has unto the original, excluding injuries! So those images you are receiving right now mean it just happened a few seconds ago! Run you fool!"**_

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he took Toph onto his back. "Something bad just happened, very bad."

With his heartbeat suddenly speeding up like that, along with the sudden rush to get back, Toph can only draw the conclusion that whatever 'bad thing' was happening was definitely an emergency. "What are you talking about!? What happened!?"

Naruto grinded his teeth. "Apparently, the Kage Bunshin can transfer any memories and experiences it has to the original. The clone that was sleeping in your bed, just had its throat slit!"

* * *

**A/N I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. With this becoming just as popular as 'Escape' in one chapter, I really took care of writing this. I would love to thank Nine Mice again, It was mostly subtle things, but I did edit one scene significantly enough, which was when Naruto and Kurama spoke to each other. I originally planned to have Kyuubi wake Naruto up, but it really did not fit Kyuubi's attitude towards Naruto additionally Nine Mice offered another point of view on why genjutsu wouldn't work on people in the world of the Avatar. I'll keep that in mind and will incorporate it into the story later, but for now it is unknown to Naruto, Toph and all of you... for now.**

**Alright thanks for reading! Don't forget to R&R and this is 9tailsfox2 signing off!**


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